A thermometer inside the cupboard will be an advantage, for a wet pot straight from the wheel will warp in a warmth that would be quite suited to tough shapes. The green or damp wares should be put on the top shelves and brought nearer the heat as they dry. Large shapes put into the cupboard to dry quickly are very liable to crack across
the base. Any flush of heat upon them through any aperture in the shelves will cause them to dry streakily. Turning then becomes difficult or impossible.
Bowls, if not too fragile, may with care be piled one within the other. This helps to retain their shape. Tiles are best stacked in piles dusted with flint or with a piece of clay at each corner between them. Tiles should never be placed in the cupboard until quite dry and straight. Flat platters or dishes require very careful drying to prevent buckling and should be reversed on a piece of sanded glass. When shapes are dried in the open air, they often get hard at the rim before the bottom stiffens. They need reversing to counteract this tendency.
To retard drying, which may often be necessary, a damp-box is needed. A large box, zinc-lined and fitted with plaster slabs, is an excellent device. The plaster must be kept moist with water. A well-tarred box with a close-fitting lid is more easily constructed and will serve most purposes. All work to be stuck up or modelled on should be kept in the damp-box until quite finished and then dried very gradually.
In all kinds of sticking up the body and the addition should be of the same consistency. Re-wetting is dangerous but may be resorted to in moderation with stout thrown shapes. Ornament added when the shape is nearly dry is very likely to leave in the
biscuiting, although apparently quite firm in the green state. Cast shapes dry very rapidly and should be finished before they become white dry. With practice handles, masks, and the like can be affixed in the dry state with slip, but it demands its careful and sparing use. Cracks or holes in dried shapes can with great care be filled, a stiff wedge of clay being firmly pressed in and welded to the slightly moistened sides of the crack. The plaster tools (Fig. 44) will be found very handy for working on the dry clay. With skill and patience much repairing may be done on unfired shapes, but it is a waste of time to attempt it unless the beauty of the piece warrants it. It is far better if the piece be faulty to throw it back into the bin at this stage. Once fired, it is likely to remain an irremediable eyesore.
Fig. 44
One or two other points bearing on finish have been mentioned before in previous chapters, but these last touches are so important that they will bear some reiteration.
The finality burned in by the biscuiting